Walt and El Grupo

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Personally, I was unaware of

Walt Disney's visit to Chile.

It is not a well known topic.

Walt Disney was always

present in my life,

because it was he

who changed our lives.

When Disney comes, comes to Argentina,

there is something that is very natural

in human beings,

which is to ask why he is coming.

Why is he coming?

From the left side of the room,

a door like the one over there,

a person came in

walking on his hands!

Immediately, he put up his arms

like this and said,

"Hola chicos!"

I arrived at the Urca in 1941,

began practically on the same day

playing a cricket,

because I used to do acrobatics.

I was astonished when I arrived.

I came from a circus, arrived at a

casino... I didn't know where to look,

so much beauty, so much luxury,

so many things...

And the personalities that came

to the Grill, watching the shows.

Politicians, artists,

a lot of artists,

including a great personality

that caught all of our attention,

everyone in the cast got crazy.

"Here is Walt Disney.

Walt Disney is here watching the show!"

That evening, at the Urca Casino,

a banquet was given by

the Department of Press and Propaganda.

The Grill was decorated

with motifs from Fantasia.

A scene from Carnaval Carioca

was performed for Mr. Disney.

Sophistication, music, beautiful women,

and famous orchestras,

all the best.

It seemed like it had no end.

Talking about the Urca is really hard...

...really hard.

Telling you exactly

what Urca Casino was like.

A dream.

And then there is a plin plin plin plin

plin sound. Then they go home.

"l go, I go,

to home it's now I go...

I go, I go, I go..."

it's like that in the film, right?

Are they recording already?

At that time I was a little girl,

but people tell me

that when Disney arrived here,

it seemed he already had

an old friendship with my father.

And my father had already

been chosen

to dub Disney's first feature-length

animated film, which was Snow White.

My father said,

"Life likes those who like life."

This is the piano of

It was a rainy Monday in 1938.

AW Barroso sat at this piano

in order to compose a waltz,

As Trs Lgrimas (Three Tears),

began to play the keyboard,

and suddenly was interrupted

by an inspiration.

And there it was, complete and

At Radio Globe's auditorium,

Dad went there

and while he was listening to auditions

a man came and said, "Hey AW,

that's Walt Disney over there,

you need to show him your songs."

Then, he sat at the piano,

started to play,

and Walt Disney said,

"That is the music I want."

We cut out the photograph of Disney.

We put it on top of the radio where they

were going to broadcast his arrival.

We listened to the arrival of Disney

with Chas de Cruz announcing,

announcing that he was moving across the

river that we have here to the side.

And desperately, while we heard,

"He's arriving, he's arriving!"

We saw the silver plated fuselage

reflecting the sun of early spring.

Desperately we greeted Disney

thinking that he could see us.

We ran to see the evening papers

to read about the arrival of Disney.

And we saw it.

Disney on the steps of the plane

with a young boy next to him.

All of us who were enamored with Disney

envied that young boy.

Since Disney and the group

needed a place to work

they chose this room

to set up the studio.

This is the terrace

where the dance was held.

Do you remember

how long the presentation lasted?

Half an hour, half an hour.

Thirty minutes.

All of the Cartoonists were here.

All of the people taking pictures

were there in front.

There was a very pretty girl there.

This girl, do you remember this girl?

And this is you?

Yes.

In the newspaper,

I read that Tachuela Gramajo

did the solo for the malambo.

Oh yes.

Do you remember?

Me? Of course, how am I not going to

remember? Yes, I remember everything!

Disney got very excited

during the malambo.

He kept tapping me.

Macanudo, Macanudo, Macanudo!

He liked it.

I was very fond of that guy.

This caught my attention

because he could not understand us,

and we could not understand him,

but I could tell he was very happy.

We don't have any documentation on how

Disney contacted my grandfather.

But, based on the date,

we think that it coincides with the time

he had moved to Buenos Aires

to work on the institute to teach dance.

About 70% of the dances

that are known as traditionals

in our country,

are the dances collected by Chazarreta.

They raised us dancing,

they raised us singing,

so we lived the music.

So it is impossible for me not

to feel happy when I hear a chacarera,

or not to want to dance when I hear it.

For me personally,

it motivates me because it is

the positive side of my life.

For example, my mother

fell in love while dancing a zamba

with a man from Simoca.

And they got married.

Later they traveled many roads together.

He in politics,

with the same intensity as Chazarreta.

With the same repression

that Argentina suffers

in culture and in political activism.

This is something very much mine,

stories that are mine.

One helps me to withstand the other.

To have had a grandfather who truly

became the Patriarch of Folklore,

and a father who was repressed

and disappeared

by the military dictatorship...

One makes me shine

and helps me fight for the other.

I think that

a large percentage of Argentines,

I would estimate 90%

and that might be low,

believe in three urban myths,

as they are called today.

One is...

The little I know has to do with

Disney being frozen.

Well, about Disney,

I know that he was frozen...

Look, what I know about Disney

is that since I was young

I have always known he was frozen.

About being frozen, I know from high up

that they froze him because...

I know that he is frozen.

I can't give you more details.

Well, all of this is fantasy.

All the fantasy that we created

is part of the fantasy of Walt Disney.

No more, no less.

The announcements were very precise.

Disney is coming to do research

for a film with a gaucho theme.

...and an idea is born, a fantasy,

things that are very typical in humans.

Disney is a spy.

He is coming because he is a spy.

There were those that...

Sympathized with the Allies,

others with the Axis,

but it was talked about,

it wasn't something people fought over.

But it gave us a base on which to draw

comic strips about war adventures,

things like that. Right?

The cartoonist during that time

was very important.

And there were many jobs

because there were many newspapers

and magazines here.

Yes, they were at the house.

Yes, they were at the house, yes.

I still remember because they gave me

some drawings.

Most of all, I remember

the people who did voices.

And more than anything I was excited by

the one who talked like Donald Duck.

I do believe that a friendship remained

between them, because you see

that in absolutely

every document that exists

on Walt Disney's visit to Argentina,

right next to him is Ramn Columba.

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